


Life Signs

by Rivestra



Series: Apocaglee [2]
Category: Criminal Minds
Genre: Apocalypse, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-08-21
Updated: 2011-08-21
Packaged: 2017-10-22 21:27:35
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 510
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/242765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rivestra/pseuds/Rivestra
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Optimism at the end of the world. Coda to <i>Trouble on the Way</i>.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Life Signs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [escritoireazul](https://archiveofourown.org/users/escritoireazul/gifts).



> [escritoireazul](http://archiveofourown.org/users/escritoireazul/pseuds/escritoireazul) gave me three Apocalyptothon prompts, two for Glee and one for Criminal Minds. I couldn't quite get Morgan and Garcia out of my mind as I wrote my Glee story, _Trouble on the Way_ , and, since everyone who's read that has _gently suggested_ I might write a little more, I figured I'd let Penelope and Derek help me with a Coda.  
>  This is the result. It stands alone, but also serves as a coda for _Trouble on the Way_. It's... a little crossover happy (bringing the total fandoms involved up to 5 for the series - can you spot them all?), but not particularly cracky, even so.

"Gorgeous?"

"Yeah, Baby Girl?"

"Remember those satellite codes? The ones I got from our mysterious disappearing Colonel Carter, just after the lockdown hit?"

He turned toward her, silhouetted against the bank of external monitors he'd been watching uselessly. "You mean the ones that weren’t supposed to exist?" She nodded. "Yeah." He took in her skittish expression and excitement leaked into his voice, "After all these months, you've got something?"

She nodded again, slower this time. "I got something before, but …"

His eyes narrowed at her. "You got the Air Force's top secret 'People Detector' satellite to work and I'm just hearing about this now?"

"It was…" She drew in a steadying breath. "Depressing." She held up a hand, halting whatever he'd been about to say. "The satellite was tasked to cycle over Europe and, aside from a tiny blip over Wales, it couldn't find anything."

"You should have told me."

"I hoped it was broken."

He sighed, "Yeah," and pulled her chair close, drawing her in. "Nothing?"

Into his chest she said softly, "Just that tiny blip in Cardiff, maybe five people."

He pushed her back gently so he could see her face. "And now?"

"Now." She nodded determinedly and turned back to her keyboard. "Now, I can see us." A map flipped up onto her screen, zoomed into the DC area. "And a few other little pockets of people still alive in nearby." She pointed at a half-dozen pale blue dots that popped up on the screen, spread across the District and Virginia.

He let out the breath he'd been holding. "More government shelters?"

"Some of them correspond, yes." She suppressed a giggle poorly and let out, "Some of them correspond with urban legends," all in a rush. His smile was indulgent and her excitement grew as she continued, "But this is what I really need to show you."

The map zoomed out, Great Lakes to the Gulf, then she pressed it back in, centered on Indiana/Ohio/Kentucky. A pale green dot bloomed onto the screen, bigger than the ones near them. "That." Her hand shook as she pointed at the dot. "I don't have the calibration right, so I'm not sure why the color's different, and I don't know exactly what all the different sensors.." her trembling fingers indicated the complex, decidedly non-English, shifting squiggly lines and figures below the map.

"Hey." He caught her hand in his, cutting off her babble. "Slow down." Her eyes met his. Gently, he said, "Just tell me what you think it means."

Her voice came soft, hopeful and terrified. "It means… somebody survived. There are at least a hundred people there." She took a quick breath. _"At least."_

Her voice dropped to a whisper. "We're not alone"

He stood and pulled her up too. In unspoken agreement, they moved to the couch and settled in, side-by side. The omnipresent glow of the lockdown clock bathed them in red. He watched one minute slide into the next.

She watched the change flicker across his face instead.

 _  
**~fin~**   
_ ****

_  
**[~ Complete Fic Index (LJ) ~](http://rivestra.livejournal.com/5676.html) **   
_


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